5 Top Tips For Happiness Beyond International Happiness Day

Mar 19, 2018

Happiness is serious business and it isn't all rainbows and sunflowers, though they are rather gorgeous and when you see them you feel great. However, for many people, there are times in life that you can't see life's beauty so you need different information and a new way of looking at things.

Oct 29th, 1994, my dad took his life because he was unable to see the beauty of life and he lost his way in the darkness of his mind. For some people happiness comes more easily because it depends what they hold in their mind, so here are my top tips to achieve happiness beyond International Happiness Day.

1. Be conscious of the power of your mind.

Your mind will either lift you up to a place where you feel you could conquer the world or bring you down into the depths of despair and everywhere in between. It is your job to become the master of your mind and sail your 'mind ship' through the stormy and sometimes gentle seas of life.

Learn to become conscious of your thoughts and discover if they are helpful or unhelpful to you.

2. Keep your mind busy learning

Learn about things you are passionate about. I love this quote by Howard Thurman,

'Don't ask what the world needs, ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.'

Learn what drives you, no matter how long it takes. The mind is a hungry muscle and it needs feeding. If you don't consciously feed it nutrition for the mind, it will consume all kinds of junk.

3. Help others and be aware of the benefits

We are not meant to live alone. Only thinking of yourself, separates you from others. Take time to care and listen to others in need. By giving of yourself to others, you receive love and kindness in return. This love and kindness doesn't always come from the same source where you gave it though. When you give love and kindness, you are sowing seeds in the universe and they grow anywhere and make the world a better place.

4. Practice patience and understanding with yourself

Be kind to yourself. You won't always get everything right. Instead of wasting time beating yourself up, say, when you have made a bad decision or you have gone against your values and now feel bad, relax. Everything can be resolved and if it can't, perhaps it is time to move on or to make changes. Everything happens for a reason. Life was never meant to stay the same. I think that belief is delusional.

5. Be clear about your desire of how you want to show up in your life.

Truly discover who you are and what you stand for. Discover what you believe in and what you don't. We pick up so much of other people's beliefs that it is difficult to discover what we stand for. Decide how you want to show up. Life is about compromise but when we compromise our spirit to make others feel better or so others can be them, we do the world around us a disservice by not showing up honestly.

Happiness is multicoloured, not just rainbow colours, there are several shades of grey and some black - accept it all and embrace life for the magical experience that it is.